Energy Efficiency

MacBook Air is designed to be energy efficient straight out of the box. It’s even earned the EPA’s ENERGY STAR qualification for its low power consumption.

Efficient power supply.

MacBook Air includes a highly efficient power supply that reduces the amount of power wasted when bringing electricity from the wall to your computer. Lower power consumption reduces energy bills and lessens the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions from power stations.

Advanced power management.

Unlike a lot of Windows-based PC systems, MacBook Air uses energy-efficient hardware components that work hand in hand with the operating system to conserve power. OS X activates sleep mode on already energy-efficient LED-backlit displays. And it balances tasks across both central processors and graphics processors. OS X never misses a power-saving opportunity, no matter how small. It even regulates the processor between keystrokes, reducing power between the letters you type. That’s just one of many ways Apple manages small amounts of power that add up to big savings.

ENERGY STAR qualification.

MacBook Air meets the stringent low power requirements set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their ENERGY STAR 6.0 qualification. ENERGY STAR 6.0 sets significantly higher efficiency limits for power supplies and aggressive limits for the computer’s typical annual power consumption.

Eliminating Toxic Substances

It’s what MacBook Air doesn’t have that makes it more environmentally friendly. It’s free of many harmful toxins like mercury, arsenic, BFRs and PVC.

Fewer toxins.

The greatest environmental challenge facing the computer industry today is the presence of arsenic, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), mercury, phthalates and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in products. Apple engineers have worked hard to eliminate BFRs and PVC from MacBook Air circuit boards, internal and external cables, connectors, insulators, adhesives and more.1 And they’ve eliminated many other toxins that are a common part of notebook computer manufacturing — choosing, for example, mercury-free backlighting and arsenic-free glass for the MacBook Air display.

Recyclability

Because MacBook Air is made from aluminium, it’s more likely to be recycled and reused at the end of its long, productive life.

Recyclable materials.

Apple has minimised the waste when MacBook Air reaches end of life through its ultra-efficient design and the use of aluminium, which recyclers can reuse for other products.

Apple and the environment.

Life cycle impact.

Apple’s life cycle analysis accounts for all emissions associated with our products. That includes raw material extraction, manufacturing, packaging, transportation, energy consumed during use,2 and recycling. In the course of this analysis, we determined that 97 percent of Apple’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from the products we make.